Recently, due to the trend of lightweight in automobiles, 3C products, appliances and office automation products, the applications of magnesium have attracted attention from every field. Nevertheless, due to poor processability at ambient temperature for traditional commercial magnesium alloy, the manufacturing of magnesium alloy structural components mostly relies on casting, a melting/solidification process. Especially, die casting or injection molding is dominant. Thus, the magnesium alloy product industry has been bothered by the low yield of thin wall products from die casting or injection molding process.
It has been reported and patented for production that addition of Y or Si could increase plasticability for magnesium alloy. But the processing temperature was as high as 200° C., so processability at ambient temperature is still insufficient. Besides, the process adopted a complicated melt-quench method, its operation is difficult and not popular.
Normal magnesium alloy has sufficient plasticability until it is heated up to above 200° C. The practical application of Wrought Materials by die casting at ambient temperature is limited due to low yield of finished products. In addition, magnesium and lithium are both so active that melting process is difficult. If the said patented melt-quench method is used, not only operation is difficult but also product shape is limited.
In view of the technical difficulty in the past, the present invention has the objective to maintain the low density characteristic for magnesium alloy in a process composed of melting in vacuum melt furnace or inert gas protected furnace, teeming into ingot, extrusion or rolling into highly ductile magnesium alloy material for further die casting for various functional components.